The cover page of The Introduction of Mesmerism into the Public Hospitals of India

The Mesmeric Dr. James Esdaile

The acceptance of mesmerism in colonial Bengal depended on the public performance of Western medicine couched in the wonders of a supposed “native” magic.
French lawyer and politician Simone Veil, the Minister of Health, addresses the French Senate in Paris, on the subject of abortion, 13th December 1974

The Manifesto of the 343

In a dramatic act of civil disobedience, more than three hundred French women publicly confessed to having had an illegal abortion.
Xavier University of Louisiana Men's Basketball Team, c. 1939-40

The Visual Medium Has a Message

How does the medium in which an image is rendered, its materiality, shape our perception of the subject matter?
A street scene, 1854

Street Harassment in Victorian London

Middle- and upper-class women complained about “so-called gentlemen” who stared at them, blocked their paths, and followed them as they tried to shop.
Detail from Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez

Who Was the Little Girl in Las Meninas?

A Spanish princess who became a German queen, Margarita Teresa lived a life structured by Catholicism and cut short by consanguinity.
Comic books and collectibles are seen during WonderCon 2018 at Anaheim Convention Center on March 23, 2018 in Anaheim, California.

Teaching Comics: A Syllabus

So you want to teach The Sandman? Or William Blake? Or Art Spiegelman’s Maus? A guide to using comics and graphic novels in the classroom.
An aerial view of the prehistoric White horse carved into the hillside at Uffington,Berkshire

Whence the White Horse of Uffington?

A white horse of chalk both defines and defies a common understanding of what English heritage is, and is not.
Fuchsia

Plant of the Month: Fuchsia

Too popular for its own good? The career of a flower so powerfully beautiful, fashion would inevitably declare it over.
Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

How Has Hollywood Shaped the Presidency?

"Acting presidential" can mean fulfilling expectations that have been shaped by TV and the movies.
From From canal boy to president by Horatio Alger, 1881

The Creepy Backstory to Horatio Alger’s Bootstrap Capitalism

In a famous essay, a scholar uncovered difficult truths about Alger, whose name has been associated with the "rags to riches" myth.